The Anime Review Thread - Captain Comics2018-12-19T09:29:17Zhttp://captaincomics.ning.com/forum/topics/the-anime-review-thread?feed=yes&xn_auth=noWell, there's always this.tag:captaincomics.ning.com,2018-12-11:3370054:Comment:5778332018-12-11T00:38:51.580ZThe Baronhttp://captaincomics.ning.com/profile/TheBaron
<p>Well, there's always <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLye710voYY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this</a>.</p>
<p>Well, there's always <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLye710voYY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this</a>.</p> I don't know if the Baron has…tag:captaincomics.ning.com,2018-12-10:3370054:Comment:5778292018-12-10T20:38:13.150ZRandy Jacksonhttp://captaincomics.ning.com/profile/RandyJackson
<p>I don't know if the Baron has seen this but I think it's something that he might enjoy.</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/wC2Iov1pCDg" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/wC2Iov1pCDg</a></p>
<p>I don't know if the Baron has seen this but I think it's something that he might enjoy.</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/wC2Iov1pCDg" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/wC2Iov1pCDg</a></p> Title: Nichijou (a.k.a. My Or…tag:captaincomics.ning.com,2018-12-09:3370054:Comment:5775962018-12-09T20:28:02.744ZThe Baronhttp://captaincomics.ning.com/profile/TheBaron
<p><strong>Title:</strong><span> </span><em>Nichijou </em>(a.k.a. <em>My Ordinary Life</em>)</p>
<p><strong>Episodes:</strong><span> </span>26 + "Episode 0"</p>
<p><strong>Category:</strong><span> </span> Absurdist slice-of-life comedy</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Plot:</strong><span> </span> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Various characters in an un-named town live their daily lives, very weirdly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Characters:</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>There are dozens of characters (It's almost like a…</p>
<p><strong>Title:</strong><span> </span><em>Nichijou </em>(a.k.a. <em>My Ordinary Life</em>)</p>
<p><strong>Episodes:</strong><span> </span>26 + "Episode 0"</p>
<p><strong>Category:</strong><span> </span> Absurdist slice-of-life comedy</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Plot:</strong><span> </span> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Various characters in an un-named town live their daily lives, very weirdly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Characters:</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>There are dozens of characters (It's almost like a Japanese "Springfield"), but these are the main ones</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Yuko Aioi</strong><span> </span>– Another "energetic girl", she is bright and cheerful, but never does her homework. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Mio Naganohara</strong><span> </span>– A friend and classmate of Yuko's, she's the closest thing here to a "normal girl". She aspires to be a manga artist, and draws <em>yaoi </em>stories about a male classmate she has a crush on. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Mai Minakami </strong>– A friend and classmate of Yuko and Mio, she is quiet and unemotional, but likes to play weird pranks on people. Likes to carve wooden statues of gods and buddhas.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Nano Shinonome </strong>– A robot who looks and acts like a high school girl (only the huge wind-up key on her back spoils the illusion), she desires to live normal life. She lives in the Shinonome Lab with her creator. About halfway through the series, she begins going to school and becomes friends with Yuko, Mio and Mai.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Hakase</strong><span> </span>– A bratty eight year-old girl who also happens to be a scientific genius, she is Nano's creator. (<em>"Hakase"</em> is more of a title than a name. In the manga, she is called "Professor".) </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Sakamoto</strong><span> </span>– A cat adopted by Nano and Hakase. Hakase gave him a scarf that allows him to speak. Thinks of himself as the adult of the household.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>What's good:</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p></p>
<p> Amusing and absurd, it appeals to my sense of humor. </p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>What doesn't work:</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p></p>
<p>Depends on your taste. If you don''t like random absurdity, you might not like this.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Fanservice Level:</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>None.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Perverted Character:</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>None.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Final Thoughts:</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>I like this a lot. I've already gone back and re-watched a couple of my favorite episodes..</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>My rating</strong>: 9/10</p> Title: Interviews With Monste…tag:captaincomics.ning.com,2018-12-09:3370054:Comment:5775182018-12-09T19:43:38.850ZThe Baronhttp://captaincomics.ning.com/profile/TheBaron
<p><strong>Title:</strong><span> </span><em>Interviews With Monster Girls</em></p>
<p><strong>Episodes:</strong><span> 13</span></p>
<p><strong>Category:</strong><span> </span> Monster Girl Comedy</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Plot:</strong><span> </span> </p>
<p></p>
<p>Demi-Humans (popularly known as "Demis") are genetically anomalous people who in the past were persecuted as monsters, but are now integrating into society. (They're not actually supernatural, but did inspire legends about…</p>
<p><strong>Title:</strong><span> </span><em>Interviews With Monster Girls</em></p>
<p><strong>Episodes:</strong><span> 13</span></p>
<p><strong>Category:</strong><span> </span> Monster Girl Comedy</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Plot:</strong><span> </span> </p>
<p></p>
<p>Demi-Humans (popularly known as "Demis") are genetically anomalous people who in the past were persecuted as monsters, but are now integrating into society. (They're not actually supernatural, but did inspire legends about supernatural beings.) One high school teacher tries to learn more about them.</p>
<p></p>
<p> </p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Characters:</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Tetsuo Takahashi</strong><span> </span>– A biology teacher who is fascinated by demis, and tries to learn more about the demis in the school.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Hikari Takanashi</strong><span> </span>– A vampire girl. She has fangs, is sensitive to light and needs to drink blood occasionally (the government supplies her with a unit of blood a month), but is otherwise a normal girl. She's the typical "energetic girl", a poor student, but eager and prone to harebrained schemes. One of Tetsuo's students.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Kyoko Machi </strong>– A dullahan, her head is not physically attached to her body. (A physicist friend of Tetsuo's theorized that a wormhole connected them.) She's a quiet, good-natured girl who has a bit of a crush on Tetsuo. One of Tetsuo's students.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Yuki Kusakabe</strong>– A snow woman (or "<em>yuki-onna</em>"), she has a low body temperature, and her sweat and tears tend to freeze. She is the typical "shy girl who her friends help to come of her shell". One of Tetsuo's students.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Sakie Sato</strong><span> </span>– A math teacher who's a few years younger than Tetsuo, she is a succubus, which means that she has a heightened aphrodisiac effect on those around her, especially men. As a consequence, she has to avoid physical contact with others. She also has a crush on Tetsuo, but the nature of her powers complicates any relationships she might have.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Himari Tanaknashi</strong><span> </span>– Himari's younger, non-identical twin sister, she is a normal human girl. Subverting the usual cliche, she is the responsible, diligent sister. She is initially suspicious of Tetsuo's interest in her sister.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>What's good:</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p>I'm a sucker for stories that try to portray how people with different powers might fit into mundane society. The characters are engaging and likable, and the story enjoyable.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>What doesn't work:</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p>Nothing too bad, here. The characters are common "types", but are reasonably well-developed</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Fanservice Level:</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Minimal. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Perverted Character:</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>None.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Final Thoughts:</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>I liked this a lot. It's one I could imagine re-watching. I also recommend the manga, of which I've read the first six volumes. (The anime covers the first five or so.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>My rating</strong>: 9/10</p> Randy, et al.:
I haven't had…tag:captaincomics.ning.com,2018-06-03:3370054:Comment:5638382018-06-03T19:59:56.384ZLee Houston, Juniorhttp://captaincomics.ning.com/profile/LeeHoustonJunior
<p>Randy, et al.:</p>
<p>I haven't had a chance (as I post this) to watch FLCL2 on the DVR yet, but if it's even half as good as the original Fooly Cooly (which was about one alien coming to Earth trying to free another alien-or so she claimed) it should be very entertaining.</p>
<p>Randy, et al.:</p>
<p>I haven't had a chance (as I post this) to watch FLCL2 on the DVR yet, but if it's even half as good as the original Fooly Cooly (which was about one alien coming to Earth trying to free another alien-or so she claimed) it should be very entertaining.</p> For those of you not familiar…tag:captaincomics.ning.com,2018-06-03:3370054:Comment:5636602018-06-03T13:27:27.497ZRandy Jacksonhttp://captaincomics.ning.com/profile/RandyJackson
<p>For those of you not familiar with the original <em>FLCL</em> it's...weird. Very visually impressive, but really odd. However, the original was also only six episodes, so it was also pretty short. I don't know enough about this new version to make any recommendations, however.</p>
<p>For those of you not familiar with the original <em>FLCL</em> it's...weird. Very visually impressive, but really odd. However, the original was also only six episodes, so it was also pretty short. I don't know enough about this new version to make any recommendations, however.</p> Just in case anyone is unawar…tag:captaincomics.ning.com,2018-06-03:3370054:Comment:5637382018-06-03T03:46:59.810ZLee Houston, Juniorhttp://captaincomics.ning.com/profile/LeeHoustonJunior
<p>Just in case anyone is unaware of or interested in this, Cartoon Network's Adult Swim Toonami block is scheduled to start airing <em>Fooly Cooly TWO</em>, also known as <em>Fooly Cooly: Progressive</em>, tonight after the latest episode of <em>My Hero Academia</em>.</p>
<p>This is the first of two brand new follow up series made by the original creators.</p>
<p>Check local listings for time and channel.</p>
<p>Just in case anyone is unaware of or interested in this, Cartoon Network's Adult Swim Toonami block is scheduled to start airing <em>Fooly Cooly TWO</em>, also known as <em>Fooly Cooly: Progressive</em>, tonight after the latest episode of <em>My Hero Academia</em>.</p>
<p>This is the first of two brand new follow up series made by the original creators.</p>
<p>Check local listings for time and channel.</p> Title: Miss Kobayashi's Drago…tag:captaincomics.ning.com,2018-06-02:3370054:Comment:5636562018-06-02T22:46:07.506ZThe Baronhttp://captaincomics.ning.com/profile/TheBaron
<p><strong>Title: </strong><em>Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid</em></p>
<p><strong>Episodes:</strong> 13 + 1 OVA</p>
<p><strong>Category: </strong>Monster Girl/Slice of Life Comedy</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Plot: </strong> While drunk, computer programmer Kobayashi bonds with Tohru, a wounded chaos dragon. Saving the dragon's life, Kobayashi invites her to live with her. The next day, Tohru shows up at Kobayahi's apartment and insists on becoming her live-in…</p>
<p><strong>Title: </strong><em>Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid</em></p>
<p><strong>Episodes:</strong> 13 + 1 OVA</p>
<p><strong>Category: </strong>Monster Girl/Slice of Life Comedy</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Plot: </strong> While drunk, computer programmer Kobayashi bonds with Tohru, a wounded chaos dragon. Saving the dragon's life, Kobayashi invites her to live with her. The next day, Tohru shows up at Kobayahi's apartment and insists on becoming her live-in maid.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Characters:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Kobayashi</strong><strong>: </strong>A coder in her 20's, Kobayashi (no personal name is ever given) is quiet, somewhat emotionally repressed, androgynous and a bit of a loner. She has several "typically male" traits, including being a huge maid <em>otaku</em>. She tends to drink heavily. When drunk (and she drinks a lot), she becomes loud and boisterous.</li>
<li><strong>Tohru: </strong>A powerful chaos dragon, daughter of the Emperor of Demise. She manifests as a young, blonde woman with horns and a tail. Wounded in a battle with the gods, she sought refuge in our world. Fascinated by Kobayashi, she became her live-in maid.</li>
<li><strong>Kanna Kamui: </strong>A young dragon friend of Tohru's. She manifests as a pink-haired little girl with a "tribal" goth loli look. Neglected by her parents, she pulled pranks to get attention and was banished to our world. She moves in with Kobayashi and Tohru, coming to look upon Kobayashi as a parental figure.</li>
<li><strong>Quetzalcoatl (a.k.a. "Lucoa"): </strong>An ex-goddess exiled to Earth for getting drunk and sleeping with her sister. (This is derived from actual mythology.) She manifests as a tall, blonde woman with large comedy breasts. She lives with Shouta as his "familiar".</li>
<li><strong>Elma: </strong>A harmony dragon, member of a faction opposing Tohru's. She manifests as a short, dark-haired woman. They start out as bitter opponents, but eventually become "frenemies". She gets a job at Kobayashi's office, and becomes obsessed with food, especially sweets.</li>
<li><strong>Fafnir: </strong>A treasure-hoarding dragon who comes to our world. He manifests as a tall, thin, austere-looking young man with long black hair. He rooms with Takiya and is obsessed with on-line gaming. He looks down on humans (and most other dragons) as inferior, but is secretly very glad to be part of the group.</li>
<li><strong>Takiya: </strong>Kobayashi's co-worker and sole human friend. He shares her love of maids, and sees her as "one of the guys". He is Fafnir's closest friend. Most of the time he looks like a normal guy, but when he is in "<em>otaku</em> mode, he suddenly sprouts comedy glasses and buck teeth, which has an unfortunate tendency to look like a stereotypical "Jap" from 1940's American animation. (It took me a while to work out that they were one and the same character.)</li>
<li><strong>Saikawa: </strong>A classmate of Kanna's, she was the class bully, but became infatuated with Kanna. She squeals orgasmically whenever Kanna touches her. She has an older sister who calls herself "Georgie" and who likes to dress up as and act like a maid.</li>
<li><strong>Shouta: </strong>A young male classmate of Kanna and Saikawa. His father is a higher-up at Kobayashi's company. Claiming to be from a long line of mages, he attempted to summon a demon. Lucoa answered his summons on a whim, and decided to become his "familiar". He refuses to believe she isn't a demon.</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<p><strong>What's Good:</strong> I found the story, with its depiction of Kobayashi's growth from a sad loner to a the center of a family of her own choosing, as well as its message that people from different backgrounds can learn to live with each other, to be enjoyable and engaging. </p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>What Doesn't Work: </strong>The pervy characters can be a little bit tiresome, and I've never understood the "sexual predation can be funny" element of many manga/anime. It's not quite enough to take me out of the story, but I could imagine it being really disturbing to some people.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Fanservice Level: </strong>There's a certain amount, but nothing X-rated. There are the obligatory beach and hot springs episodes. Lucoa basically exists to be fan service.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Perverted Character(s):</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Lucoa is probably the worst offender. Her behavior to Shouta is fairly inappropriate as she frequently shares a bed with him and buries his head in her copious bosom, despite his obvious distress. </li>
<li>Saikawa's constant squealing over Kanna is not only annoying, it's the sort of thing that should have her parents calling a child psychologist if they ever got wind of it.</li>
<li>Tohru frequently comes on to Kobayashi, and there's a running gag about her constantly trying to get Kobayashi to eat meat from her tail (it can regenerate). In the OVA, she attempts to us ea love potion on Kobayashi, who sees through her plan.</li>
<li>Kobayashi seems fairly asexual most of the time. She vehemently denies being a lesbian, but shows no interest in men, either. (In the manga, she admits to being a virgin.) However, when she's drunk, she's been known to get "handsy" with Tohru, and emend that she strip, so it could be that she's just really repressed.</li>
</ul>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Final Thoughts: </strong>I like this one a lot. It's well-animated and well-written. Amusing, and has the occasional dramatic moments. The main characters are engaging and layered.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>My Rating: </strong>9 out of 10</p>
<p></p>
<p>Available in a combined Bluray/DVD package.</p> Interesting. I've heard good…tag:captaincomics.ning.com,2018-05-18:3370054:Comment:5626362018-05-18T17:09:21.279ZThe Baronhttp://captaincomics.ning.com/profile/TheBaron
<p>Interesting. I've heard good things about this.</p>
<p>Interesting. I've heard good things about this.</p> Title: AggretsukoEpisodes: 1…tag:captaincomics.ning.com,2018-05-18:3370054:Comment:5624442018-05-18T16:23:31.766ZRandy Jacksonhttp://captaincomics.ning.com/profile/RandyJackson
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/JwpBXt2T8cjH5Gv4-1fMVK74lL8JODHRZ-v1BzGdcFJQ1LaEaSp7MCVqd0MCyINuX-TfKFH2zPFcko0Ola4VqdUBSTUyHdTy/FEATURES_170719686_AR_0_QUDETWTTFJRB.jpg" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/JwpBXt2T8cjH5Gv4-1fMVK74lL8JODHRZ-v1BzGdcFJQ1LaEaSp7MCVqd0MCyINuX-TfKFH2zPFcko0Ola4VqdUBSTUyHdTy/FEATURES_170719686_AR_0_QUDETWTTFJRB.jpg" width="620"></img></a></p>
<p><strong>Title:</strong> Aggretsuko<br></br><strong>Episodes:</strong> 10 15 minute episodes<br></br><strong>Category:</strong> Slice of Life</p>
<p><strong>Plot:</strong></p>
<p>Retsuko is a 25 year old office worker in Japan, and she hates her job. She's not moving forward and her boss is…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/JwpBXt2T8cjH5Gv4-1fMVK74lL8JODHRZ-v1BzGdcFJQ1LaEaSp7MCVqd0MCyINuX-TfKFH2zPFcko0Ola4VqdUBSTUyHdTy/FEATURES_170719686_AR_0_QUDETWTTFJRB.jpg"><img class="align-full" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/JwpBXt2T8cjH5Gv4-1fMVK74lL8JODHRZ-v1BzGdcFJQ1LaEaSp7MCVqd0MCyINuX-TfKFH2zPFcko0Ola4VqdUBSTUyHdTy/FEATURES_170719686_AR_0_QUDETWTTFJRB.jpg" width="620"/></a></p>
<p><strong>Title:</strong> Aggretsuko<br/><strong>Episodes:</strong> 10 15 minute episodes<br/><strong>Category:</strong> Slice of Life</p>
<p><strong>Plot:</strong></p>
<p>Retsuko is a 25 year old office worker in Japan, and she hates her job. She's not moving forward and her boss is a complete and utter jerk, plus she's too nice and too timid to speak up for herself as she's being mistreated. To deal with her day to day stress, she goes to karaoke and sings Death Metal.</p>
<p><strong>Characters</strong></p>
<p>There are a number of characters in the show, but I'm going to focus on who I consider to be the four main ones:</p>
<p><strong>Retsuko</strong> - Retsuko is, by all appearances, a sweet and reliable young woman, who's frustrated by her position in the world and her work. She constantly looks for various alternatives to either allow her to quit her job or make it more palatable. To relieve stress, she goes to karaoke and sings Death Metal.</p>
<p><strong>Director Ton</strong> - Retsuko's boss, he's a foul, lazy, literal sexist pig. He constantly belittles Retsuko and makes her do menial tasks around the office because she's a woman, like making him tea or cleaning his desk. He also refuses to use computers, as he's much older and prefers to use his abacus for calculations (they work in an accounting office). As the series moves on, he does show some redeeming qualities, but he's still the villain.</p>
<p><strong>Gori and Washimi</strong> - Two career women who work in the same office as Retsuko (Washimi is the executive secretary for the company president, and Gori is the director of Marketing). They meet and befriend Retsuko at a yoga class, and eventually serve as mentors to her.</p>
<p><strong>What's good:</strong></p>
<p>Believe it or not, this anime was developed by Sanrio, the same company famous for Hello Kitty. Well, actually maybe that's not so hard to believe, as all of the characters are cute anthropomorphic versions of human beings.</p>
<p>However, that's the last thing this anime has in common with Hello Kitty. Despite appearances, this is a pretty adult anime, and a lot of Retsuko's frustrations will ring true to pretty much anyone who's ever worked an office job.</p>
<p>One of the things I like about this anime is that even though it doesn't end badly, it's not a feel good story. The primary characters seem very real and well-fleshed out, and even the ones that seemingly have it all together exhibit flaws that show that they don't have it all figured out either. Retsuko herself is far from perfect, at times too timid to speak her mind in situations where she needs to (she buys socks she doesn't need at a store so that she doesn't leave empty-handed), at other times schemes ways to quit her job that aren't terribly ethical (one of the reasons she was in the yoga class in the first place was because she wanted to lose weight so she could land a wealthy husband), and she drinks quite a lot as well to help her with her stress. Ton is an absolute jerk, but when the crap hits the fan he proves his worth. Additionally, there are other characters that have flaws that make them endearing and quite human.</p>
<p><strong>What doesn't work:</strong></p>
<p>I really do wish that the episodes had been longer, or that there had been more of them. There are a number of secondary characters that I felt could have been developed better (Retsuko's co-workers Fanneko and Haida) and storyline beats that seemed a little rushed (Retsuko has a brief romance with someone who works in the Sales department, but it just seems as if the romance was rushed and over with almost immediately).</p>
<p><strong>Fanservice Level:</strong></p>
<p>None.</p>
<p><strong>Perverted Character(s)</strong></p>
<p>None.</p>
<p><strong>Final Thoughts:</strong></p>
<p><em>Aggretsuko</em> is a thoughtful and interesting anime. It can be watched in just a couple of hours as well, so it doesn't require a large time commitment. As such things go, it's enjoyable.</p>
<p><strong>My rating:</strong> 8/10</p>
<p><em>Aggretsuko</em> is a Netflix original and can be streamed on that platform.</p>